Robotic Organ Cut-Point Marking Using Force-Sensed Surface Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical robot systems lack the ability to accurately and precisely mark cut points on organs during robot-assisted surgeries due to imprecision in human guidance and misalignment between preoperative 3D models and real-time surgical conditions, leading to potential inaccuracies in surgical trajectories.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilizes a 3D model registration, force sensor feedback, and robotic control to automatically mark cut points on organs by adjusting the surgical instrument's direction based on real-time reaction forces, ensuring precise alignment with the organ's surface norms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If human guidance is used to control surgical robots, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs force sensing feedback at the surgical instrument tip to detect contact with the organ surface and adjust the robot's movement accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the robot to automatically correct positioning errors and adapt to organ deformation, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and surgical precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical control with an automated robot system that uses sensor feedback and computational algorithms to guide the surgical instrument. This substitution eliminates human imprecision while maintaining operational simplicity through automated decision-making
2Manufacturing precision
If preoperative 3D models are used for surgical planning, then manufacturing precision is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to misalignment with real-time surgical conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary registration of the 3D model with the actual organ using landmark-based registration before the surgical procedure. This preliminary alignment establishes an initial coordinate transformation that can be refined during surgery, ensuring both planning accuracy and real-time reliability
Solution Approach 2:
Force sensors provide real-time feedback on the surgical instrument's contact forces, enabling continuous verification and adjustment of the registered trajectory. This feedback loop detects deviations caused by organ deformation or registration errors and automatically corrects them, maintaining reliability throughout the procedure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances surgical precision by leveraging robotic accuracy to correct for organ deformation and registration errors, enabling precise marking of cut points along planned surgical trajectories.
Implementation Method 1
A surgical instrument having a tip with a force sensor attached thereto is controlled to mark at least some of the mapped cut points on the organ along a marking direction determined based on a reaction force sensed by the force sensor when the tip touches a mapped cut point
Data Source
AI summary
The present teaching relates to surgical position marking. A 3D model for an organ includes cut points forming a surgical trajectory. Each cut point has a 3D coordinate and a surface norm in the model space. When projected into a workspace, a mapped cut point is created with a mapped 3D coordinate and a mapped surface norm in the workspace. With a surgical instrument with a tip and a force sensor attached thereto, some mapped cut points are marked along a direction determined based on a reaction force sensed by the force sensor when the tip touches the cut point.